Chapter 121: Chapter 118: Interesting Matters, Interesting People

Lightning snaked through the air, and thunderbolts cracked like snapping bowstrings.

Amidst the interlocking web of lightning, the Heaven and Earth Scale appeared again and again.

[Human Desires: The fear, shock, and hatred of an Innate Second Transformation Opening Realm Martial Artist. Two jin and one tael. Eligible for trade.]

[Human Desires: The shock, fear, and fury of an Innate First Transformation Void Realm Martial Artist. One jin and two taels. Eligible for trade.]

[Human Desires: The shock, fury, and wrath of an Innate First Transformation Void Realm Martial Artist. One jin and eight taels. Eligible for trade.]

[Death Qi: The death of an Innate Second Transformation Opening Realm Martial Artist. Three jin and one tael. Eligible for trade.]

...

This time, Xie Yunxiang witnessed with his own eyes how his Brother Xin slaughtered all who stood in their way.

’Strong! The fury of the strong is like the heavens collapsing!’

’How could anyone be this strong?’

At that moment, all that could be heard was the roar of thunder and the crack of lightning. In an instant, one of the attacking Martial Artists was dead and another injured.

The dead one was, of course, the Martial Artist who had thrown the first spear. The injured one was the person right behind him, who had charged in second.

The several people further back saw what happened, shrieked in terror, and turned to flee.

The injured one also dragged his wounded body away in a desperate escape.

The baffling conflict had started and ended in a flash, so swiftly and cleanly that it felt to Xie Yunxiang as if he had just had a dream.

Only after snapping out of it did he ask in a daze, "Brother Xin, those people... can they sense the location of the Primordial Longevity Pearls?"

Song Ciwan walked over to the man who had fallen to his death. She formed a hand seal and cast the Qi Absorption Technique to gently inspect the corpse.

As she did, she said, "That must be it. Because I... can also sense that he has quite a few Primordial Longevity Pearls hidden on him."

She had acquired a considerable number of Primordial Longevity Pearls from the earlier battle at the Eternal Pavilion. According to their original agreement, twenty percent of these pearls were supposed to be shared with Xie Yunxiang.

Song Ciwan hadn’t been in a hurry to give Xie Yunxiang his share. It wasn’t that she intended to break their deal, but mainly because there was no need to rush.

And now, it seemed that not giving him the Primordial Longevity Pearls yet had been a wise choice.

’An innocent man gets into trouble for carrying a treasure.’ It was better for a glass cannon like Xie Yunxiang not to bear too much of that burden.

As for Song Ciwan herself, she had stored ten Primordial Longevity Pearls in her Storage Talisman, while the remaining dozens were all placed in her Vast Sea Grotto Heaven.

In doing so, she discovered an interesting phenomenon.

When other Primordial Longevity Pearls appeared within a certain range, the ones in her Storage Talisman would grow noticeably hot, a kind of sensory alert. However, the pearls in her Vast Sea Grotto Heaven had no reaction at all. ’Does this mean the Vast Sea Grotto Heaven can perfectly insulate the pearls from sensing each other?’

Therefore, if Song Ciwan truly wished to avoid conflict, she should have moved all her Primordial Longevity Pearls into the Vast Sea Grotto Heaven.

’But... would doing so truly guarantee my safety?’

Song Ciwan didn’t need to think too hard to understand that in an environment like Illusory Nether City, while keeping a low profile might grant temporary peace, it was impossible to avoid conflict entirely.

In a world where the strong devour the weak, any retreat would only invite a more forceful act of Devouring.

Sometimes, whether you were an innocent man carrying a treasure wasn’t even that important. What mattered was that if you were weak, you were destined to be crushed.

And after these two consecutive battles, Song Ciwan had gained a clearer understanding of her own strength.

Xie Yunfeng, at Late-stage Qi Cultivation, hadn’t even been able to withstand a single exchange against her Blazing Flame Technique.

That ferocious Martial Artist, whose Qi Blood was as robust as a wild beast descending a mountain, had also seemed to be made of paper mache under her single strike.

’Is an Innate Second Transformation Enlightenment really that fragile?’ 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

’No, this is clearly because I’ve grown stronger.’

This undoubtedly brought great relief to Song Ciwan’s long-suppressed emotions. She immediately and silently decided to always keep a stock of ten Primordial Longevity Pearls in her Storage Talisman.

She wouldn’t go looking for trouble, but if someone with malicious intent came knocking on her door, she wouldn’t mind turning the tables and making a profit!

Just like this one right now. After a quick search, Song Ciwan found two Storage Talismans on the Martial Artist’s corpse.

She tossed both Storage Talismans to Xie Yunxiang. He caught them, looking overwhelmed by the favor, then quickly took them aside and began trying to cast a spell to unlock them.

Ordinary Storage Talismans didn’t have any powerful owner-binding functions; they usually just had a simple brand from the original owner.

Their main advantages were their cheap production cost and the fact that anyone—be they a Martial Artist, a Cultivator, a Scholar, or a Buddhist Cultivator—could use them freely.

This was unlike Storage Pouches, which were not only expensive but were also typically exclusive to Cultivators. If other types of Cultivators wanted to use one, they would often need to seek out an Artifact Refining Master to have it custom-made.

Of course, for this very reason, the method for safely unlocking a Storage Talisman was a basic skill that most Cultivators were bound to master.

While Xie Yunxiang was off to the side, diligently unlocking the two Storage Talismans, Song Ciwan raised a hand and shot a ball of fire at the Martial Artist’s corpse on the ground.

Under the combined power of the Blazing Flame Technique and the Heart Sutra Fire, the Martial Artist on the ground was quickly reduced to a pile of black ash.

Song Ciwan didn’t know his name or his origin. All she knew was that this was an enemy who had wanted to take her life.

Destroy the body, erase all traces, and handle it cleanly.

A gust of wind scattered the black ash into the distance in an instant. It mingled with the ancient desolation of Illusory Nether City, drifting alongside the floating motes of Nether Qi in the illusory reality until no trace of it could be found.

Xie Yunxiang finally unlocked the two Storage Talismans. He was about to excitedly call Song Ciwan over to inspect the contents when she grabbed him, cast the Wind Manipulation Technique, and swiftly carried him far away from that spot.

Searching for spoils and destroying the corpse were necessary tasks, so wasting some time on them was acceptable.

But inspecting the contents of a Storage Talisman—to insist on doing that right there on the spot would be pure carelessness.

Even though Song Ciwan felt she had grown stronger and was willing to bait the hook a few times, she would never forget to be cautious when caution was due.

Interestingly, not long after Song Ciwan and Xie Yunxiang left, several people suddenly appeared at the very spot where the Martial Artist had died.

If Song Ciwan were still there, she would have certainly recognized three of the newcomers as the very same ones who had fled from her earlier!

The three Martial Artists were visibly agitated. They followed respectfully behind a woman with an imposing figure and a powerful aura, pointing with near-sycophantic reverence. "Master, it was right here! Those two little thieves saw that we brothers had a few Primordial Longevity Pearls and immediately launched a ruthless attack to steal them. They’re utterly despicable!"

Another Martial Artist wiped away tears and said hatefully, "Everyone says that the order of the Mortal World doesn’t apply in Illusory Nether City, but this is only our first day in the city... Those fiends are too greedy, too outrageously bold! Little did they know that we happened to be acquainted with a righteous hero like you, Master Yan, someone who despises evil as a personal enemy. Though Illusory Nether City is not the Mortal World, we are still people of the Mortal World. How can there truly be no heaven-sent justice?"

At this point, the man wiped away another tear, his gaze firm as he looked ahead. Then, he cried out in alarm, "Huh? This is the right place... Where is my big brother’s body?"